Kathy Widing's annual selection of the best planning guides and country-by-country guidebooks for independent travel overseas. Now with more Internet Resources than ever!

Living Abroad
Whether traveling long-term or moving overseas, these organizations, books, and websites will make for a smooth transition to another country. Compiled by expatriate journalist Gina Doggett. Read Ms. Doggett's introduction. Also includes articles on Retirement in Mexico, and Caretaking Jobs Worldwide.

Family Travel
Traveling with kids enables you to see a country from a new perspective. Cynthia Harriman tells you where to find everything you need to know about taveling with children. Includes European rentals, family tours, internet resources, and more. Also includes articles on Exploring Paris with Kids, and Staying in Mexico with Children.

Teen Travel and StudyVanessa Relli-Moreau lists the most useful information for high school exchange and other teen travel programs.

Senior Travel AbroadArline K. Wills lists the most useful resources for the senior traveler. Includes Solo Senior Travel and a great list of Homestay Resources. Also: Senior Travel Programs.

Disability Travel Abroad Susan Sygall gives you the information you need to get out and experience the world. Organizations, publications, travel and tour agencies, and websites that provide travelers with disabilities with opportunities to expand their options. Also: Disability Travel Programs.

Educational Travel Programs Noncredit programs for all interests, from folk crafts to tours of Brazil to French and cooking lessons in a chateau in France to fashion design in London.

We’ve recently been busy bringing up to date our master list of all the articles we’ve published in Transitions Abroad over the past 21 years. That’s well over 2,000 articles by independent travelers since the summer of 1977, everything from “Bicycling Down the Nile” to “Work in Antarctica” to “Renting an Apartment in Paris.” All those articles are a testament to the many travelers over the years who ventured overseas not for casbah bargains or for a snapshot of themselves in front of the Eiffel Tower, but for a true connection to and understanding of a different people and culture.

We call it Learning Travel, and it was a relatively new concept in 1977 when Clay Hubbs founded the magazine in his basement. Soon opportunities spiraled: Study Abroad programs proliferated on campuses; adult continuing education blossomed and soon included language and cross-cultural study; young people began to look out over the oceans for work.

For 21 years we’ve grown and changed with the definitions of Learning Travel, and we’ve continued to publish the work and experiences of our fellow travelers. And so, as we went over that master list of articles, occasionally I’d hear “Whoa!” or “Cool!” coming from some part of the office. Even two decades after an article was written it can still inspire a fellow traveler. As we celebrate our 21st birthday this month, we give our thanks to our many travelers and writers--may you inspire more cries of “Cool!” over the years ahead.